Women's Golf | 9/11/2026 10:07:00 AM

Utah Tech opens the 2026-27 season this upcoming Monday and Tuesday at the Utah Valley Wolverine Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole event will be played at the par-72, 6,105-yard TalonsCove Golf Club in Saratoga Springs, Utah.

The 10-team tournament field will include the Trailblazers and fellow Big Sky Conference members Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Portland State, Southern Utah and Weber State, along with CSU Bakersfield, Wyoming and the host Wolverines. 

HEAD COACH LINDSEY ORTH: Lindsey Orth (Utah Tech, 2007) begins her 11th season as head coach of the Trailblazer women's golf program. 
        Last season, Coach Orth finished its sixth season of NCAA Division I play with six top-6 showings in 10 team events, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Utah Fall Intercollegiate (9/14-15/25), and a fifth-place showing in the program's final appearance at the Western Athletic Conference Championships.
        Prior to her arrival at Utah Tech, she served as assistant golf professional at the Sand Hollow Golf Resort, and as an LPGA assistant teaching professional for the City of St. George. Orth also spent two seasons on the coaching staff of the Hurricane High School girl's golf program, including a one-year stint as the Tigers' head coach in the 2010-11 season. 
        Coach Orth, who is an apprentice member of the LPGA T&CP, played collegiately at the University of Central Arkansas, where she helped lead the Bears to six-consecutive team tournament wins and a Gulf South Conference championship.
 
GOING BIG IN 2026-27: Utah Tech women's golf begins a new era this season as new members of the Big Sky Conference. Utah Tech was picked to finish seventh in the 2026-27 Big Sky preseason coaches poll, which was released on September 1.
        Northern Arizona received eight of a possible 11 first place votes and 97 total points to be tabbed as the Big Sky preseason favorite, while Montana State collected two first place nods to finish second in the poll with 88 points.
        Northern Colorado garnered one first place vote and 84 points to finish third, followed by Weber State (75 pts) in fourth, Idaho (56 pts) in fifth, Portland State (53) in sixth, Utah Tech (48 pts) in seventh, Idaho State (35 pts) in eighth, Montana (24 pts) in ninth, Southern Utah (23 pts) in 10^th and Eastern Washington (22 pts) in 11^th. 
 
2026-27 TRAILBLAZER PREVIEW: The Trailblazers return five players from last year's squad, led by the senior tandem of Mia Cesarek and Samantha Phelan.
        Cesarek, who begins the 2026-27 season ranked third on Utah Tech's career stroke average list (75.89), played in all 10 team events and co-led the team in total competitive rounds played (29) last season. She finished third on the team with a 75.34 scoring average and four par-or-better rounds and wound up with four top-20 individual finishes, highlighted by a season-best t-14^th at the Utah Fall Intercollegiate (9/14-15). Cesarek also placed t-16^th at the WAC Championships.
        Meanwhile Phelan, who currently stands as Utah Tech's career leader in scoring average (75.14) and third in career top-10s (9), is coming off a banner 2025-26 season.
        Phelan also played in all 10 team events and co-led the team in total competitive rounds played (29). In addition, she finished second on the team with a 74.93 scoring average, which was the fourth-lowest season scoring average in program history, along with seven par-or-better rounds. 
        Phelan got last season off with a bang by tying Utah Tech's 18-hole (6-under 66), 36-hole (139) and 54-hole (212) scoring records in the season-opening UVU Wolverine Inv'l (9/8-9), where she finished tied for sixth place overall. She finished with a team-high four top-10s overall, highlighted by a collegiate career best t-second place showing at the Montana State Bobcat Desert Classic (4/13-15). 
Utah Tech also welcomed back juniors Maria Purroy Gallan and Gabrielle Roznicki, along with sophomore Coryn Tardiff.
        Purroy Galan played in all 10 team events and led the team with a 74.64 stroke average, which was the third-lowest season scoring average in program history. She led the Trailblazers with nine par-or-better rounds, highlighted by a pair of 68s recorded at the first round UVU Wolverine Inv'l (9/8), and in the final round of the Minnesota Bell Bank Collegiate (3/24).
        The junior tied the program 54-hole scoring record with a 212 (minus-4) at the UVU Wolverine Inv'l (9/8-9), where she tied for sixth place overall and wound up with six top-20s on the year, including a t-18^th at the WAC Championships (4/20-22).
        Roznicki played in eight events, including six tournaments as part of the team's scoring lineup. She posted a solo 12^th-place finish at the SUU Pizza Hut Lady Thunderbird Inv'l (3/6-8), thanks in large part to her collegiate career low 3-under 69 in the second round.
        Tardiff played in five events as an individual and posted an 81.50 stroke average in 14 rounds. She carded a collegiate career low round of 3-over 75 in the opening round of the Montana State Bobcat Desert Classic (4/13).
        Utah Tech rounded out its 2026-27 team with a pair of talented freshmen in Kira Connell and Ava Kawahara.
 
UTAH TECH'S LINEUP AT UVU: Utah Tech five-player lineup at UVU will feature Cesarek, Purroy Galan, Phelan, Roznicki and Tardiff, while both Connell and Kawahara will play as individuals.
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will head north to Spokane, Wash., to play in the Gonzaga Kalispel Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole event will take place Sept. 21-22 at the Kalispel Golf and Country Club.